


Four Seasons in Florida

by MissLunaOswald



Category: The Florida Project (2017)
Genre: Angst, Can be read individually or as a series, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Other, Talking, one shots, parenting, time jumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 02:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20866937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissLunaOswald/pseuds/MissLunaOswald
Summary: Following Moonee and Halley's relationship through time, before and after that fateful summer. One chapter = one season.One shots, or can be read as a collection.





	1. Spring

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm finally brave enough to post my first fic!  
This is a series of shorts about Moonee and Halley's relationship, before, throughout and after the film. They can be read as one shots or as individual short stories, updates coming shortly.  
I do not own any characters throughout this text, nor do I owe the rights to the film.  
All grammar and spelling errors are also mine.

Spring: 

Halley was no longer alone. 

She was lying on a hospital bed in Orlando, on a hot Spring’s night when Luna made her grand entrance into the world; screaming, loud, brash, crying out for attention, just like Halley. A child herself really, caring for a child now. Halley lay back on the pillow, wiping her scarlet, sweat drenched strands of hair out of her face. She just wanted to go to sleep. A nurse handed her the baby. 

“Looks like you got yourself a little girl. You still wanna go through with adoption?”

Halley looked down at her. Her bright eyes, shining michevously, her nose turned up, her mouth, currently wide open as she screamed with reckless abandon, wanting the world to know; I am here, I have made my grand entrance. 

Throughout the pregnancy, Halley had repeatedly told the nurses that she was going to put this baby up for adoption. She was 17, out of the foster care system a year and a half, and had, in that time, had a series of unsuitable boyfriend, the most recent being the baby’s father, or, as Halley referred to him, “that good-for-nothing fucker.” Her family (if they were still alive) couldn’t look after her, and frankly, she didn’t want anything to do with them. For year she had survived on her own in jobs, the most frequent being working as a barista, and lived through couch surfing with her friends and boyfriends. She knew she couldn’t provide for this baby. Hell, she could hardly provide for herself. All her money went towards making sure she could survive, just a little bit longer. 

And yet, she looked at this baby. This life she had bought into the world. For the entire pregnancy, she didn’t refer to the baby, didn’t talk to it. Did everything that was right for it of course – she laid off the weed and the drink, didn’t eat soft cheeses and the like, but didn’t care for the little shit. As far as she was concerned, it was an inconvinience before nine months, and then she could pass her over to a loving home. But, despite the will within her, she couldn’t. This was her child. Her own flesh and blood, something that she would forever been bound to. And would she ever forgive herself it she did to her child what her parents did to her, which caused her so much grief, so much pain and anguish throughout her childhood?

Halley glanced up again, a soft smile forming on her lips.  
“Nah”, she replied, taking the nurse by surprise. The nurse babbled on to her about check ups, but she could concentrate on was the moon. Bright and shining, full; in a sky of tiny stars, the moon was there staring down at her, watching her, watching the baby. 

“Luna”. She kissed her on the forehead, whispering the word so softly. “Or Moon as a nickname”. She kissed Moon again, bringing her closer to her chest, the first time she had allowed herself to love in many years. 

A couple of hours later, she was lying in the bed, still holding tightly to Moon, her Moon. She didn’t know much about parenting, but all she could think about was how she loved her, in her own way.  
As Moon finally settled, Halley hummed a lullaby she remembered from her childhood, bounching Moon gently up and down in time with the tune. All Halley knew was that she loved Moon, and that’s all that she could give her; but it would work out alright. Halley would make it work out alright. She pulled a sleeping Moon, the centre of her universe to her chest, and said  
“Just me and you up against the world, baby”.


	2. Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halley and Moonee reminisce over the summer in which the movie is set.

When they tried to take Moonee away, Halley screamed and cried, protested, spat and swore.   
They arrived that Summers evening, when Moonee was six; they tried to tell Halley that a motel was no place for a girl to grow up. Halley knew that of course, but Halley was desperate; she told the social workers that she had no other choice. They insisted though, on taking Moonee away, just overnight, so they could assess her “condition”. Fuck knew what that meant, thought Halley; all she knew was that she couldn’t be separated from Moonee.   
In the immediate aftermath, Moonee had ran as far as she could. A mile and a half down the road, she was found in Disney World, by one of the park workers, after closing time. Social services bought her back, and gave her back to Halley, having agreed that after the days “events”, it would be better if Moonee stayed with Halley that night.   
Moonee had collapsed into bed pretty much immediately, and had slept without trouble, much to Halley’s relief. Halley, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep a wink. She walked out onto the motel balcony that overlooked the carpark and just sat there, staring at the night sky as the air stuck to her. The moon was covered by fog; a reminder of her cloudy judgement. She had failed Moonee, she had failed as a mother.   
Bobby found her after doing his night time rounds; he saw Halley’s tear stained face and her anger at herself; Halley was angry was for sure; but never angry at herself. That night, Bobby sat with her, talking it through.   
“You tried your best, Halley. You know Moonee will always love you.” 

Six weeks later and, with daily visits from social services, they agreed that Halley and Moonee could remain together. Halley desperately looked for jobs, any jobs – she’d been stupid to slut herself out, but everything she’d done, she’d done it to survive. And not just for her – for Moonee.   
But Halley needed more than to survive – she needed to be a mother; and that’s where she failed. Social services visits had been a wake-up call; she needed to ditch the illegal activity once and for all. After she got rid of the weed, she didn’t buy anymore; she was attempting giving up smoking as well. She was trying to get work, real honest work – but it was hard. God, it was hard. Bobby had offered her a vacancy working in the motel laundrette (he wouldn’t admit it but he had a soft spot for Moonee and Halley); it wasn’t much but it was better than nothing. Moonee had finally started going to school; regular school. They were finally becoming normal, or as normal as their lives could be.  
Moonee sensed that her mom her was sad that night. Silently, as Halley sat on the bed, Moonee crept up before sitting down next to her, resting her head on her Mama’s shoulders. Halley placed her arm round Moonee, wrapping her tight towards her as they watched the golden haze of the sun bounce of the sugary purple of the hotel. They sat in silent, just for a couple of minutes. Because they had each other.   
“Mommy, I don’t want you to ever be upset, you know. You’re a good mamma, you know that?”. Moonee didn’t know why her mom had cried a lot recently, but she knew it was to do with her. And although Moonee was happy, she knew her Mom was feeling sad about being her momma. She didn’t need to though. Moonee was always gonna be her daughter.   
Halley raised her face from Moonee’s hair, the scent of shampoo and fabric conditioner and grass, and that childlike, starlike wonder in her face looked at her right back, blinking at her expectantly.   
“I love you Moonee. I always will.” And she pulled her in held onto her for just a while longer, as the golden glow of the sun bounced down from the magic kingdom.


	3. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Halley's birthday - this one is mostly fluffy.

Fall:  
Despite Moonee declaring it was Halley's birthday, and thus she should choose, Halley insisted on letting her pick anyway (despite it being a big birthday). Moonee chose the ice cream parlor in town, and piled her plate high with waffles, a pastel rainbow of icecream and an explosion of sprinkles and toppings. She was (despite her insistence as she was in 7th grade now), still a kid. 

Halley chose a mint and bubblegum blue sundae, topped with whipped cream but probably less likely to give her diabetes then Moonee’s concoction. They sat, joking about school and work, pulling faces behind other patrons backs, spooning sugar into their mouths whilst sticking their tongue out. Halley couldn’t help but think about how much her life had turned around in the past few years, and how much Moonee had changed either. Halley had finally got together enough money for them to be able to rent a small flat in the city, with assistance from social services and was working two jobs – at the laundrette with Bobby in the day and helping operate the Bumper Cars at a fairground near by in the evenings. Moonee was thriving in school; she had a new career plan everyday but had a vivid imagination and a penchant for leading (she was running for class president). 

And Moonee knew her mom had changed as well. It wasn’t that she was ever a bad mom; she knew that her mamma always loved her, and would protect her from the ends of the earth; but she was more mom-like. More present. She was still spunky and hilarious, she was still very improper, but she was more of a mom now. Because they didn’t need to survive. Sure; they weren’t the wealthiest family, and money was a squeeze, but they got by now. They were doing alright. 

After a pause in silence in the conversation, Halley grabbed Moonee’s hand. Moonee was right in one aspect – she wasn’t a child anymore in some regards, she knew she had an unconventional upbringing. And Halley needed her to know something. 

“Moonee, honey. I know you’re nearly an adult and I know you’ve – we’ve - come a long way. I wanna apologise to you. I wanna apologise for not being enough in those early years. I was trying my best, I really was – fuck, I did everything I could for you. Anything to scrape that rent. But I wasn’t a mother. I never was, I didn’t know how, I don’t know shit…”. 

She swallowed, sat back, before Moonee leaned forward, squeezing Halley’s hand tighter “Yeah, but you’re still my mom. You covered the cracks. We were poor – I knew that, and you tried you’re best. I know, with hindsight, you made stupid decisions; but we all do. That doesn’t make you less of a mom though, alright?”. She leaned forward and then whispered “But I’m still better at burping then you.”

Halley snorted, laughing softly before curling her lip up and looking at Moonee dead seriously – “Oh yeah? Prove it.” 

And Moonee did indeed prove it, despite the glares and glances from the other patrons. They walked out onto the Orlando sidewalk back to their little sanctuary, skipping and laughing and joking through a whirl of red where the Fall leaves covered the floor like confetti. They got back to the flat, still laughing and mucking around, because they were still kids really. And Moonee gave her a handmade card, one which she had done over lunchbreak one day which her art teacher had given her materials for. And they curled up and watched a superhero movie, still joking and being ridiculous.  
Because they were a family.


	4. Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few days before Christmas when Moonee comes home from College.

It was surprisingly cold, even for near Christmas. Halley opened the front door, her fingers numb around the keys, wedging it open, allowing Moonee to drag her suitcase of stuff back into the flat. 

“Good to be home?” Halley grinned, knowing full well that Moonee had missed her.  
“Oh yeah”, said Moonee. “It’s great to be home.” 

A small pile of Christmas cards sat on the kitchen table, some addressed to both of them, some addressed just to Moonee. One caught her eye though  
“Is that one from Bobby?” 

Even at the ripe old age of 18, Moonee still called kept in touch with Bobby – he had retired from the Motel business a few years ago, but still frequently wrote to Moonee and Halley to see how his “favourite clients” were doing. 

“I guess so” said Halley, leaning softly against the doorframe. “Fancy a homedelivery?” 

So they sat on the sofa, eating from the local Chinese restaurant in Sweatpants and watching both "Home Alones" back to back, whilst Halley interrogates Moonee about college.  
Moonee, with support from her mom and High School, had gotten a scholarship to NYU to study Creative Writing, with plans to become an investigative journalist. And although Halley missed Moonee and she cried the day she left, she was so proud of everything she had achieved, her heart swelling every time she mentioned it – “My daughters the first in the family to go to College”. All she wanted was for Moonee to have a better youth then she’d had.

And Moonee was equally proud of her Mom too. When she’d started High School, Halley had decided to enrol back in online courses to see if she could gain her High School Diploma, seeing as she pretty much dropped out after Freshmen Year. Halley was now the proud owner of a High School Diploma and worked modestly, managing a clothes store in town, which she enjoyed, even the business aspect of. Moonee was still in contact with Jancey, who was working at a Diner in town, even though Halley hadn’t spoken to Ashley in years. She hadn’t heard from Scooty or Dicky. 

Weirdly, Moonee sometimes missed the hotel. She missed the scent of cigarette butts and cheap antiseptic, she missed running wild and causing mayhem, and she missed being the master of her world. In her world, her oh-so-whimsical, imperfect, naïve world which she called her own, nothing bad ever happened for that long. But she didn’t have a mom really. Her mom was trying to survive that Summer, so much that she wasn’t even a mom; but that Summer where nothing happened and everything happened had transformed their lives. 

Moonee turned to Halley softly, unexpectedly part of the way through the film and whispered softly  
“Hey Mamma; you were the best Mamma I coulda ended up with for this crazy ride.” 

They were both aware that they were some of the lucky ones, in that they managed to turn their lives around and get out of that damned motel, and that Halley managed to clean up her act. But Halley knew that she couldn’t let Moonee live without her mother, like she had done for so many years, and that all the girl had needed was some love. They were a family. Dysfunctional, chaotic, broken at points but between them, they made the cogs in the machines work enough to remain a family. 

Halley gave her the expression which Moonee knew so well; the one where a grown-up was about to cry (Moonee could always tell when someone was gonna cry, especially when it was her Mamma).  
“Merry Christmas, Luna.”

The cloudless sky rose above the apartment, with the Moon rising directly above their block, shining down on their flat. But Halley held her moon with her, and that was all she needed. Her Moonee was her Universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know how unlikely this is, and how it sort of deviates from the Canon ending, but I wanted Moonee and Halley to have a happy ending somehow; because despite the fact they're on the brink of falling apart, they are a family. 
> 
> Thanks for reading my first published fic! Any questions, drop me a comment and I'll respond. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a playlist I created for the movie and can be listened to whilst reading this:   
https://www.deezer.com/en/playlist/6627922784


End file.
